Credits

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Many have said that we need to strengthen political parties and a two-party system could do just that. What we have at present are coalitions and of course the partylists which are supposed to represent marginalized sectors of society.

Seing the potential of these partylists, major political parties have dipped their hands in the partylist field in the guise of representing special interest sectors and have instead polluted and prostituted it. We see partylists who have toed the administration line, disregarding the sentiments of their constituents. They have become either swing votes or lobby groups for the current dispensation. While some had adhered to and tried to truly represent their sectors, they have lost their effectivity. This is mainly due to administraion propaganda and misinformation. They have not seen eye to eye with the administration and have been branded as distabilizers and the more extreme, as communist fronts.

Obviously, those partylists which defend the "president" has been funded by major parties which support the presidency.(Its quite obvious, isn't it?) We must remember that partylists are nationally voted and they need not only a good machinery to be voted into office but an eaqually strong mass base. So to counter the upsurge of progressive groups, political kingpins invidually or with their party's support create their own partylist to gain more leverage in congress thus ensuring and increasing their party's clout.

With the funds from their "political sponsors", this pseudo-partylists were able to gain seats in the house and deprive legitimate partylists from representing actual sectors of society. Its about time we review and amend the partylist law. Better yet, why not rid the entire lower house of political parties and instead make them all independents. Afterall, members of the lower house are just local officials with added powers and benefits. In this way, we rid the system of syndicated politics or what others may call Mafia style politics. Let's leave the major players to battle it out in the senatorial arena where we see a diversity of views and not just plain party politics.

We will then have a truly independent lower house which will be free from political debt. This way too, representatives will be more accountable to their constituents than have a major party cover up their mess. A wide range of views will lead to a more effective way to draft laws as all sectors will truly be served and heard. Campaign funding will be at a manageable level that elected representatives will actually work for the people than work to recover their campaign expenses and repay their political debts.

At present, our "congress" represent interest groups and not the marginalized. We have trapos who cloak their twisted ambitions in the guise of representing their constituents' sentiments. The current practice of tyranny by numbers will be eradicated as partylines will be non-existent. The presidency will be more in touch with the people than just dealing with political parties and have his/her way. Legitimate representation will then be in place. Lobby groups will also have a hard time "buying" politicians as they will have to deal with independent persons and not a group which they can easily influence.

A truly independent lower house will be more objective than subservient to only one person. Senate and the lower house will no longer be suspicious of one another as there are no political parties or party doctrine involved but plain unadulterated public service. This will also deprive the president of having a constant shield to protect him/her from impeachment.

Some of you may find this view insane. Its just a thought I have been mulling for quite awhile. I may not have answers to your questions, but to me, this is a way to purge our politics of unscrupulous individuals who can be easily dictated to by their political parties and political masters.